WERC Fire Science Active
WERC scientists are defining the past, present, and future of wildfires for wildlife and human communities. Explore this webpage to learn about specific, ongoing projects across California and parts of Nevada.
Wildfires may seem like untamable forces of nature, but there are very real environmental and human factors driving them. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) are providing resource managers with regional- and national-scale findings on the effects of historical fire and forest management, influences on current fire patterns, and the future of fire across California.
WERC is a USGS Ecosystems Mission Area center serving primarily California and Nevada. Eight WERC Principal Investigators operate out of field stations located in the two states’ diverse ecosystems. Their unique positions allow them to study wildfire history and behavior from the chaparral landscapes of southern California, to the Mojave Desert, and the forests of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. WERC scientists’ studies of this complex network of ecosystems lends their research both small- and large-scale applications.
USGS natural hazards and ecosystems science can assist managers and planners in finding solutions to reduce the risk of home and habitat loss — and help California truly learn to live with fire. Examples include investigations into the characteristics of wildfires from the Sierra Nevada to the Mojave; effects of wildfire on Greater Sage-grouse populations and habitat; recovery and post-fire restoration of critical habitat for listed species; changes in desert landscapes from increasingly frequent fires; effects of habitat disturbance, ash, and debris from wildfires on amphibians and reptiles; studies on fire trends and efficacy of fire management strategies to enhance forest resilience; and environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing wildfire size, severity, and frequency in southern California.
Download the current handout on WERC's fire science and explore specific projects under the "Related Science" tab.
Below are science projects associated with this topic.
Balancing Fire Hazards and Resource Protection
Stressors to Greater Sage-Grouse
- Overview
WERC scientists are defining the past, present, and future of wildfires for wildlife and human communities. Explore this webpage to learn about specific, ongoing projects across California and parts of Nevada.
Wildfires may seem like untamable forces of nature, but there are very real environmental and human factors driving them. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center (WERC) are providing resource managers with regional- and national-scale findings on the effects of historical fire and forest management, influences on current fire patterns, and the future of fire across California.
WERC is a USGS Ecosystems Mission Area center serving primarily California and Nevada. Eight WERC Principal Investigators operate out of field stations located in the two states’ diverse ecosystems. Their unique positions allow them to study wildfire history and behavior from the chaparral landscapes of southern California, to the Mojave Desert, and the forests of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. WERC scientists’ studies of this complex network of ecosystems lends their research both small- and large-scale applications.
USGS natural hazards and ecosystems science can assist managers and planners in finding solutions to reduce the risk of home and habitat loss — and help California truly learn to live with fire. Examples include investigations into the characteristics of wildfires from the Sierra Nevada to the Mojave; effects of wildfire on Greater Sage-grouse populations and habitat; recovery and post-fire restoration of critical habitat for listed species; changes in desert landscapes from increasingly frequent fires; effects of habitat disturbance, ash, and debris from wildfires on amphibians and reptiles; studies on fire trends and efficacy of fire management strategies to enhance forest resilience; and environmental and anthropogenic factors influencing wildfire size, severity, and frequency in southern California.
Download the current handout on WERC's fire science and explore specific projects under the "Related Science" tab.
- Science
Below are science projects associated with this topic.
Filter Total Items: 14Balancing Fire Hazards and Resource Protection
Human impacts on fires across California have been quite diverse. In many forests, fires have been nearly excluded over the past century, causing an unhealthy accumulation of dead vegetation and a greater threat of severe fires. However, on much of California’s lower elevation foothills and valleys, humans have greatly increased fire frequency. These landscapes are often juxtaposed with...Stressors to Greater Sage-Grouse
The Greater Sage-grouse is a small bird found only in the sagebrush steppe of the Great Basin. Invasions of non-native grasses, evolving wildfire patterns, grazing from livestock, and human land uses are changing this unique ecosystem. WERC’s Dr. Pete Coates studies sage-grouse populations to determine how these influences could affect the bird and other wildlife in the future.